Minutes
November 15, 2006
Members Present: Laura Arnold, Michael Durland, Ron Henrickson, Howie Rosenfeld,
Ken Sebens, Joy Sevier, Jim Slocomb, Jonathan White, Tina Whitman
Absent: Mike Ahrenius, David Loyd, Terrie Klinger, Mary Masters, Skeet Lowe, Kit Rawson
Staff: Shireene Hale, Jody Kennedy, Helen Venada
Guests: Dave Castor, Eric Eisenhardt, Phil Green, Don Gunderson and 4 UW students,
Kari Koski, Lew Moore, Rowann Tallmon
Vice Chair Jim Slocomb called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. in the Community Room at Islanders Bank Annex, Friday Harbor.
MSA Plan Strategies:
Jim explained that the draft MSA strategies were reformatted at the October 24th workshop and that the MRC needs to approve a final today. Jody said that the final draft will be submitted for review and comment by the public, including all stakeholder groups. The MRC will then develop stewardship policies to achieve the objectives of the Plan.
Motion: Tina moved, and Jonathan seconded, that the MRC adopt the draft strategies and move them forward in the public process. Following discussion, the motion was unanimously approved.
Citizen Input:
Lew Moore, Executive Director of the Northwest Straits Commission (NWSC), said that he has been attending meetings of the Puget Sound Partnership, which is in the final phase of preparing its report for the Governor. The group’s focus is on a few key areas, specifically, septics, habitat restoration and protection, and reduction of toxics and stormwater runoff. Lew said that the NWSC and the MRCs are mentioned in the draft documents, which will be available online in the next few days; programs noted are the derelict gear recovery project and the creosote removal and invasive species removal projects. He added that the group felt that these programs should be put into a more consistent ecosystem-based management framework. Lew said that the NWSC should be receiving a considerable amount of money, most of which will be passed through to the MRCs. Although the Partnership is not a legislative body, Lew said, the fact that its goals are aligned with that of the newly-elected Legislature and of the Governor seems to assure that there will be more funding for Puget Sound conservation efforts.
Lew said that the Puget Sound Action Team is likely to be replaced by a similar entity that will have more funding and possibly more authority; there will be a council of 7-9 prominent citizens as well as staff. He added that $100 million for the biennium is very realistic right now, overall. The San Juan County MRC initiative and watershed groups are almost assured to get more funding, particularly in the areas of citizen monitoring and public outreach. Funding for stormwater projects in small communities, Lew said, is a very high priority. As background on the Partnership, Lew explained that Governor Gregoire announced that she wants to have Puget Sound restored and cleaned up by 2020; Bill Ruckelshaus and Department of Ecology’s Director, Jay Manning, tribal governments and others put together the concept of the Partnership, which will be an ongoing process that is getting a lot of attention. The Partnership will have a final retreat in January, Lew said, and, to promote open communication, feedback from the MRCs is requested on what the Partnership is doing and what the MRCs are doing. Ken Sebens said that there have been a couple of meetings of the Partnership’s finance advisory committee that several representatives of the Friday Harbor Labs and the University of Washington have taken part in; he said that a lot of good suggestions came out of the meetings and it was good to hear that the extra funding may be forthcoming.
MRC Coordinator position:
Ron Hendrickson reported that there has been an internal posting of the position within the County and one qualified candidate will be interviewed tomorrow. Kit is included on the interview committee.
Minutes:
Minutes of the 11/1/06 meeting were approved as read.
Eelgrass/ Moorings Study, Sucia Island:
Dave Castor of Washington State Parks said that he is here today to follow up on his earlier presentation to the MRC on the agency’s new mooring buoy system and on the eelgrass recovery program at Echo Bay, Sucia Island. He said that the concrete anchor blocks are being replaced with augers at James Island, Spencer Spit, Upright Channel, Obstruction Pass, Griffin Bay, Reed Harbor, and Prevost; others will be removed later next spring.
Dave gave an update on the eelgrass recovery pilot study, as demonstrated in an aerial photograph of Echo Bay. He said that the Friends of the San Juans did an initial eelgrass survey in 2003 that was updated by the Department of Natural Resources last May. Areas with suitable eelgrass habitat, either with the potential for eelgrass or with existing beds, were identified for protection. The aerial also shows the existing 14 concrete buoys, 10 of which will be relocated to outside of the area; in addition, Parks will install voluntary no anchor information buoys probably next spring. The agency is applying for permits for an additional 30 buoys in deeper water where eelgrass does not occur. In partnership with UW Friday Harbor Labs, Parks is doing a long-term research project on regeneration of eelgrass beds in the area. The effects of augering on eelgrass beds will be studied, using underwater monitoring.
2006 Bottomfish Recovery Zone Dive Survey:
Dr. Eric Eisenhardt reported that 4 divers made 48 dives in Bottomfish Recovery Zones (BRZs) last August/September to collect data on fish counts, fish size, habitat data, and REEF surveys. The recovery sites (also surveyed in 2001) and their non-reserve reference sites are as follows: Bell Island/Cliff; Lime Kiln/Edwards; Charles Island/Long Island. Very few differences were found, Eric said, between the reserve and non-reserve sites. However, there is significant evidence that the BRZ’s are too small for ling cod and may be more adequately sized for smaller species. The lack of reserve effects may be due, Eric said, to fishing pressure, reserve size, and sample size; also, there has probably not been sufficient time since the reserves were implemented (in 1997) to see more results and research indicates that there is probably not an impact from marine mammal predation on fish species in the reserves. The overall human fishing effort seems to be evenly distributed along the west side of San Juan Island and fishers don’t seem to pay much attention to the reserves, Eric said.
Eric suggested future research to re-survey all the sites from 2002, including non-reserves on San Juan; to increase sample size and number of dives; to repeat a fishing pressure survey; and, to do a year-long home range size study. He thanked the divers, the in-kind support from Sea Doc Society, and the MRC funding that made the dive survey possible.
Tina said that the fishing study results suggest that more public education needs to be provided on the location of the reserves and their purpose. Jim noted that the MSA draft strategies include suspension of direct harvest of bottomfish species and bycatch reduction, although the means to do so is not given. Eric agreed that these efforts can only help recovery. Kari reported that, since the surveys, the older reserve signs have been replaced with more clear signage.
MRC Member Survey:
Jonathan said that he has created a summary of his interviews with members which he’ll email later today for member review at the upcoming MRC retreat. Questions addressed include: What is working? What can be done to improve effectiveness? What are the success measures for the next five years?
Laura reported that the County Council voted to issue the resolution to reauthorize the MRC, with the one change that the MRC provide them with a report three times a year. The transborder agreement was reviewed by the Council. Laura requested that MRC members attend the Council meeting next Tuesday for discussion of the letter to WDFW Director, Jeff Koenings, to end the experimental dock program in the San Juans.
Shireene requested that an MRC member be designated by January to work on the CAO ordinance committee.
Quantification of Marine Vessel Pressures in the San Juan Islands:
Jeff Dismukes, who was to report on preliminary results from the pilot study, was not in attendance at today’s meeting.
Next meeting: The next regularly-scheduled MRC meeting will be Wednesday, December 6th, from 8:30–10:30 AM at the Islanders Bank Community Room in Friday Harbor.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 am.
Submitted by Helen Venada
